One of these days I’ll get around to doing what I say I’m going to do. Today I’ m referring to my column looking back at 2022. But I just finished reading Tristan’s article about Larry Otto and “Pancake Day” at the Ellendale Cafe.
I didn’t know Larry Otto. Well, actually, he probably – not probably – I guarantee he drove one of the many buses I rode during my elementary, middle school, and high school education at NRHEG.
I wrote, in a column I didn’t feel was up to par, about Otto and the Bohlen family.
I have a long list of stories which I/we/the newspaper only make a dent in each year. Larry was on my list of folks I wanted to interview and write about. It hurts that I never got to write about him. Hearing stories, reading his obituary, looking through two decades of newspapers with his name littered throughout many, and now this latest article, I’ve come to know him as a great man. Those types of stories, his story, are what I/we/the newspaper strive to write about. This isn’t the first time someone’s died whom I wanted to write about. It hasn’t gotten easier.
But it’s another reminder why I try so hard, why I let myself feel that pressure to get to the story before it’s too late. Because people just never know.
Last year, while doing “Looking Back,” it was observed that the Bohlens were celebrating either 50 or 75 years in business. I contacted James and Rick and wanted to sit down to write an article about their history. They politely declined (a couple times).
It’s been a hard week. That’s two people whom I wanted to write about, whom I wanted to interview, who are gone.
When I write a feature story, I really want it to be good enough that folks could read it at the individual's funeral. It’s why I work so hard, why most of my feature story interviews take an hour or longer. It’s why sometimes I spend three hours with a family when I’m working on a story. I want to truly capture that person’s essence, spirit – their story.
I struggle assigning feature stories to people for that reason. Honestly, outside of three people, which is
honestly an incredible amount, I don’t trust folks to work that hard on a story. Those exceptions being Melanie Piltingsrud, Deb Bently, and of course, my favorite writer, my father.
For Pete’s sake, Melanie doesn’t even put down some of her hours on a story if she feels she put in “personal time.” People like this are special.
I would remiss if I didn’t mention our other writers. Because, thinking about it now, I recall the number of stories Barb Finseth wrote, which were pure heart. And then Tristan, who is becoming quite the writer herself. And then there’s Michael, who writes so much for all of the papers in Waseca County, it almost makes my head spin. Finally, there’s my sister, whom I wish would simply write more. Oh, and our columnists. How I enjoy their work. Okay, so maybe I trust a few more than three people.
I’m grateful Tristan wrote a good story on Larry, but it serves as another reminder not to put off till tomorrow what can be done today. Fortunately, my list of stories is a few hundred hours of work away from completion.